Ukrainian Orthodox Church Cuts Ties With Moscow Over Invasion

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church cut ties with the Moscow Patriarchate on Friday, the latest response to the continued Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Orthodox Christianity does not have a single unified church structure but is instead composed of over a dozen autocephalous- ‘self headed’ churches, largely following national lines. The Russian Orthodox Church is by far the largest of these, with nearly 100 million members, and has traditionally governed all Orthodox Churches within the old Russian Empire, including Ukraine — until now.

“We fully understand how the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is suffering today,” Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement from Moscow, adding that the “spirits of malice” wanted to divide Russian and Ukrainian believers but said spirits would not succeed.

Patriarch Kirill has long been a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has often styled himself as a defender of Russian Orthodox Civilization, and has endorsed his campaign in Ukraine, casting the conflict as a “metaphysical” battle and “a fundamental rejection of the so-called values ​​that are offered today by those who claim world power.” This stance has earned the condemnation of many other Orthodox leaders, including some within his own flock.

“Not only did he fail to condemn Russia’s military aggression but he also failed to find words for the suffering Ukrainian people,” OUC Archbishop Kliment said on behalf of the church leadership.

Some analysts believe the split represents a major blow to Putin’s geopolitical ambitions. “The idea of Putin unifying the Russian world, including Ukraine and other post-Soviet states, hinges on the idea that Russia is the center of Christianity and the center of the unique Eurasian civilization that the Russians believe is exceptional just like Americans think America is exceptional,” former intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News. “Once the church splits, it takes the whole divinity idea out of it.”

The split comes after a similar schism in 2018 which followed the Russian annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in the Donbas region, and formalized a split within the Ukrainian Orthodox community between those loyal to Moscow and those who are under semi-recognized Patriarchate of Kyiv, sometimes called the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or the OCU to avoid confusion. About 68% of Ukraine’s population is Orthodox, and before the war, roughly a quarter of the orthodox population was affiliated with Moscow.

Since the start of the war with Russia over 100 churches within the UOC had defected to the OCU. It is unclear whether or not the two factions will unify, or if all members of the UOC will go along with the decision; many in territories controlled or likely to be controlled by Russia may remain under the Moscow Patriarchate for political reasons.